As portable electronic devices become more compact, and the number of functions performed by a given device increase, it has become a significant challenge to design a user interface that allows users to easily interact with a multifunction device. This challenge is particular significant for handheld portable devices, which have much smaller screens than desktop or laptop computers. This situation is unfortunate because the user interface is the gateway through which users receive not only content but also responses to user actions or behaviors, including user attempts to access a device's features, tools, and functions. Some portable communication devices (e.g., mobile telephones, sometimes called mobile phones, cell phones, cellular telephones, and the like) have resorted to adding more pushbuttons, increasing the density of push buttons, overloading the functions of pushbuttons, or using complex menu systems to allow a user to access, store and manipulate data. These conventional user interfaces often result in complicated key sequences and menu hierarchies that must be memorized by the user.
Many conventional user interfaces, such as those that include physical pushbuttons, are also inflexible. This is unfortunate because it may prevent a user interface from being configured and/or adapted by either an application running on the portable device or by users. When coupled with the time consuming requirement to memorize multiple key sequences and menu hierarchies, and the difficulty in activating a desired pushbutton, such inflexibility is frustrating to most users.
Many cell phones support a “conference call” feature that allows three or more parties (corresponding to three or more phones) to participate in a single conversation simultaneously. At present, however, it is difficult for a cell phone user to manage a conference call, including such tasks as adding a new party to the conference call, removing an existing party from the conference call, temporarily converting the conference call into a private phone call with one of the existing parties, and returning to the conference call from the private phone call. With present devices, it is not readily apparent to a user how to perform these tasks.
Accordingly, there is a need for portable multifunction devices with more transparent and intuitive user interfaces for managing a conference call between multiple parties that are easy to use, configure, and/or adapt. Such interfaces increase the effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction with portable multifunction devices.